Tax Credit Overpayment

spscot

Just a general query. This morning I received a letter from DWP collections department looking for payment of tax credit overpayments. Now if I owe them £1,015 as they suggest fair enough but;

Neither myself or wife have any clue what it relates to, according to the letter it was for an overpayment made in April 2010, just shy of 10 years ago. There is no way we would ignore any correspondence on this, we have had nothing in the previous 10 years to say we owe anything aside from that fact we had no idea money was being received from them.

We have both always worked and never claimed anything that we are aware of, but of course, 10 years ago there may have been something we ticked on a form.

Before I phone them, I just wanted to get a feel for whether this is legit or not. The number on the letter is 0800 916 1042.

Cheers

Lee

Ruprecht

Tax Credits Helpline number is 0345 300 3900

AFAIK some DWP Departments (Debt Management for example) still use 0800 and even the 916 after it , ie: 0800 916 XXXX

That's not to say that the number you have however or the letter you have is real or genuine.

Me myself I would be most inclined to write rather than phone, asking whoever on letter for complete details of how the sum has been arrived at.
Follow that question by asking why you have heard nothing regarding this in almost ten years before now.
If it's real and genuine you'll get a reply, sooner or later.
Knowing DWP probablys later.

Icequeen99

spscot wrote: »

Just a general query. This morning I received a letter from DWP collections department looking for payment of tax credit overpayments. Now if I owe them £1,015 as they suggest fair enough but;

Neither myself or wife have any clue what it relates to, according to the letter it was for an overpayment made in April 2010, just shy of 10 years ago. There is no way we would ignore any correspondence on this, we have had nothing in the previous 10 years to say we owe anything aside from that fact we had no idea money was being received from them.

We have both always worked and never claimed anything that we are aware of, but of course, 10 years ago there may have been something we ticked on a form.

Before I phone them, I just wanted to get a feel for whether this is legit or not. The number on the letter is 0800 916 1042.

Cheers

Lee

It sounds like the debt has been passed from hMRC to DWP for recovery. If you want to talk about the repayment - you need to speak to DWP on the number in the letter. If you want to query the underlying debt - you need to speak to HMRC.

However, you must have claimed tax credits at some point. Do you recollect claiming child tax credits or working tax credit? When you received your final award notice in 2010, it would have shown the overpayment. That would have been the time to challenge. Unless this is a case where you genuinely never had a claim and it is a mistake, then you are out of time to challenge

IQ

spscot

So, I got to the bottom of it. In 2009 I was made redundant, I got a job to replace so the time I was unemployed was about 8 weeks. As part of the whole redundancy process, everyone went through one of these interviews to see what you could claim.

It appears I completed a form to enquire about benefits and they incorrectly assessed me as having eligibility for family tax credits. HMRC states there is a letter on file stating we were paid a single amount of £1,015 but they immediately realized their error and stopped further payments.

The letter stated that they would attempt to claim the amount from future tax credits, there were no future claims. They acknowledge that this is a cleanup process and I have not been contacted at any time in the past 10 years regarding it.

So on the basis that it was their mistake and the 10-year gap I am going to at least try and dispute repayment.

Icequeen99

spscot wrote: »

So, I got to the bottom of it. In 2009 I was made redundant, I got a job to replace so the time I was unemployed was about 8 weeks. As part of the whole redundancy process, everyone went through one of these interviews to see what you could claim.

It appears I completed a form to enquire about benefits and they incorrectly assessed me as having eligibility for family tax credits. HMRC states there is a letter on file stating we were paid a single amount of £1,015 but they immediately realized their error and stopped further payments.

The letter stated that they would attempt to claim the amount from future tax credits, there were no future claims. They acknowledge that this is a cleanup process and I have not been contacted at any time in the past 10 years regarding it.

So on the basis that it was their mistake and the 10-year gap I am going to at least try and dispute repayment.

Disputes can only be made within 3 months of the final award notice. Did you question the £1015 that you received? Did you put it aside? check that it was due? Also, you would have received further papers the following year from tax credits.

IQ

WhenIam64

Neither myself or wife have any clue what it relates to, according to the letter it was for an overpayment made in April 2010, just shy of 10 years ago. There is no way we would ignore any correspondence on this, we have had nothing in the previous 10 years to say we owe anything aside from that fact we had no idea money was being received from them.

I've heard HMRC are sitting on 300,000 of these. Perhaps someone can confirm.

Disputes can only be made within 3 months of the final award notice.

Which makes it easier for them just to pass it out for collection.

spscot

Icequeen99 wrote: »

Disputes can only be made within 3 months of the final award notice. Did you question the £1015 that you received? Did you put it aside? check that it was due? Also, you would have received further papers the following year from tax credits.

IQ

Found more paperwork, yes it was questioned at the time, that is how they realised the error, we pointed it out asking why we would be entitled to any payments.

We offered in writing to return the payment which was declined stating they would attempt to recover from future claims.

Like I say, it's worth a dispute for something that was their error and stayed silent on it. If I have to pay it fair enough, not going to loose sleep over £1k but there is a principle here that they made the error and were not interested in it being returned now all of a sudden 10 years later they want it.

WhenIam64

Have a read of this to see which sections apply to your circumstances

https://revenuebenefits.org.uk/tax-credits/guidance/how-to-deal-with-hmrc/dealing-with-debt/

It should be noted that claimants do not have a choice between ‘ongoing’ and ‘direct’ recovery. The recovery method used is determined by the claimant’s claim circumstances.

It may be they will go for a direct attachment to earnings

beckmary

10 years to chase a debt is a long time- don't acknowledge it and look up 'statute barred' law
They falsely tried to claim debt from me, and only a letter from my MP made them 'do one' or words to that effect
good luck

calcotti

beckmary wrote: »

10 years to chase a debt is a long time- don't acknowledge it and look up 'statute barred' law
They falsely tried to claim debt from me, and only a letter from my MP made them 'do one' or words to that effect
good luck

I don't think statute barring applies to tax credits.

The may be useful https://revenuebenefits.org.uk/tax-credits/guidance/how-to-deal-with-hmrc/disputes/

It is government policy to pursue these old debts
https://www.litrg.org.uk/latest-news/news/191023-do-you-have-old-tax-credit-debt

In England and Wales, the Limitation Act 1980 provides that recovery action for debts should commence within six years from the debt becoming payable. Tax debts are not covered by this law, but tax credit overpayment debts are in theory. In most cases, this prevents HMRC from taking County Court action but generally doesn’t stop recovery from ongoing benefit awards.

The law on whether this six-year rule applies is complex and so if you think it might apply you should seek legal and/or debt advice from a specialist.

Icequeen99

calcotti wrote: »

I don't think statute barring applies to tax credits.

The may be useful https://revenuebenefits.org.uk/tax-credits/guidance/how-to-deal-with-hmrc/disputes/

It is government policy to pursue these old debts
https://www.litrg.org.uk/latest-news/news/191023-do-you-have-old-tax-credit-debt

In England and Wales, the Limitation Act 1980 provides that recovery action for debts should commence within six years from the debt becoming payable. Tax debts are not covered by this law, but tax credit overpayment debts are in theory. In most cases, this prevents HMRC from taking County Court action but generally doesn’t stop recovery from ongoing benefit awards.

The law on whether this six-year rule applies is complex and so if you think it might apply you should seek legal and/or debt advice from a specialist.

As that website says it does apply (not to tax debts though) but in reality it only stops HMRC taking county court action. I suspect they will just pass the debt to DWP for an attachment order if the OP doesn't pay.

IQ